Dell Vice President of Engineered Solutions and Cloud Jim Ganthier says customers want the flexibility to pick and choose what works best for them, and they'll benefit from the nascent software-defined market, a market Cisco has so far stayed out of.

Plexxi CEO Richard Napolitano talks to CRN about how the networking industry needs to become converged through SDN, and why Plexxi doesn't see Cisco, Arista Networks and Big Switch Networks as direct competitors.

Ed Walton, new vice president of North American channel and alliances, says the wireless networking company's strategy 'is to grow through those partners we have today and new partners being developed.'